Weber and Marx on Labor

Paper Summary:

This paper explores Marx's and Weber's writings on estranged labor to determine if the labor theories both men used to analyze capitalism and the plight of workers in the 19th century can also be applied to 21st century capitalism. The first part of this paper discusses Marx's theory of estranged labor, as written in "The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844". In the next part, the paper then examines Max Weber's dissatisfaction with the Marx's reliance on economic theory to explain the corrupting forces of capitalism. The next section then applies Marx's and Weber's theories to modern capitalism. Weber's writings on rationalization and the bureaucracy are then used to analyze various examples of "corporate greed." In the conclusion, this paper argues that the examples discussed show how advanced capitalism continues to foster the growth of alienated labor, rationalization, and the bureaucracy.

From the Paper:

"In the 19th century, leading social theorists such as Karl Marx and Max Weber believed that because its many inherent contradictions, the capitalist system would inevitably fall into a decline. More than a century later, however, the capitalist system is far from dead. Rather, it appears to be further entrenched, encircling the world in the stranglehold of globalization."

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